It is generally record that there is a greater risk of serious injury to motorcyclists in the case of an accident than to automobile passengers. This is due, inter alia, to the fact that, unlike automobiles, motorcycles are not equipped with protective systems which enclose users thereof. Accordingly, apart from injuries that may be caused to a motorcyclist by his colliding directly with a moving vehicle or stationary object, there is also a very high risk that, in the event of a collision between a motorcycle and either another vehicle or a stationary object, he will be thrown from the motorcycle. When this happens, the motorcyclist is liable to sustain fatal injuries or, at least, very serious damage to vital parts of the body, especially to the back, spine, neck and pelvis. This can result in very serious injury thereto, if not paralysis or death,
This problem has been well recommended in the art, although no satisfactory solution has been proposed hitherto. An indication of the state of the art is found in a plurality of publications, as briefly described below.
French Patent Application No. 9107659, Publication No. 2,677,856, to Demarais, discloses a protective garment for a motorcyclist. The garment incorporates inflatable chambers preferably made of natural or synthetic rubber linked to a compressed air supply to protect the rider in event of a fall.
South African Patent Application No. 8409018 to Van Wyk discloses a safety garment for a motorcyclist. The garment is connected to a fluid pressure source and is adapted to inflate on deceleration of the vehicle or the wearer.
German Patent Application No. DE 3323701 to Hasse discloses a safety jacket for motorcyclists and pedestrians which is made of double-layered inflatable material with a rip cord.
UK Patent Application No. 2,099,687 to Sweeney discloses a protective garment for a motorcyclist, wherein the garment has compartments that are rapidly inflatable from a compressed gas source.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,059,852 to Crane discloses an inflatable suit for motorcyclists, wherein the suit has a pressurized gas supply associated with an ingress port. A valve associated with the gas supply is adapted for activation on an abrupt separation of the motorcyclist from his vehicle.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,984,821 to Kim at al. discloses a gas expansion type shock absorbing safety cloth including a shock absorbing tube, a gas regulator connected trough gas conduits to the shock absorbing tube, one or more compressed gas storage and discharge devices, an ignition controller actuated by the vehicle, a trigger device connected through an electric wire and a pull string to the ignition controller, and a connector disposed intermediate the electric wire and the pull string such that it is separated on application of force. In the event of an accident, the vehicle is often unable to provide actuation for the ignition controller.
The above publications are characterized, inter alia, by their disclosure of garments which inflate rapidly upon separation of a wearer from a motorcycle so as to provide cushioning to certain regions of the body. The inflated shape approximates to the non-inflated shape of the garment, although with some thickening in places. Accordingly, while some protection may be provided by the garment upon inflation thereof, there occurs relatively little redistribution of the forces experienced upon impacting the ground after a person is propelled from his motorcycle, and thus little significant protection against direct impact forces is provided thereby. Accordingly, impact forces are not necessarily reduced significantly enough so as to prevent serious or fatal injuries to a wearer, as described above.
UK Patent No. 1,479,733 to Bothwell discloses a protective garment designed to cushion the body of the wearer against impact. The garment inflates to a large ball, with a gap between the front bag and the wearer's face to enable the wearer to breath freely, but which thereby prevents immobilization of the neck of the wearer. Inflation is initiated by an electric pulse generated by the motorcycle at the time the wearer falls off.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,637,074 to Taheri discloses an inflatable garment, for use in a vehicle such as an automobile, for protecting against collision related injury.